CompTIA Security+ & CEH: The Complete Ethical Hacking Certification Guide 2025

Why Get Certified?

Certifications signal commitment. While real-world skills matter more, CompTIA Security+ and CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) open doors — especially for your first security role or freelance engagements.

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CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)

Exam Overview

• Questions: 90 maximum (multiple choice + performance-based)
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Passing score: 750/900
• Cost: ~$404 USD (look for voucher discounts)
• Validity: 3 years

Exam Domains

Domain	Weight
General Security Concepts	12%
Threats, Vulnerabilities & Mitigations	22%
Security Architecture	18%
Security Operations	28%
Security Program Management	20%

Study Resources

Free:

• Professor Messer's Security+ course (YouTube) — gold standard
• CompTIA official study guide sample chapters
• Cybrary free tier
• TryHackMe's "Jr Penetration Tester" path

Paid (worth it):

• Jason Dion's Udemy course ($15 on sale)
• Mike Meyers All-in-One book
• MeasureUp practice exams

Study Plan (8 weeks)

Week 1-2: Threats, attacks, and social engineering
Week 3:   Network security, firewalls, IDS/IPS
Week 4:   Identity and access management (IAM)
Week 5:   Cryptography — symmetric, asymmetric, PKI
Week 6:   Application security and secure coding
Week 7:   Incident response and forensics
Week 8:   Practice exams, weak-area review

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CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) v12

Exam Overview

• Questions: 125
• Duration: 4 hours
• Passing score: ~70% (varies by version)
• Cost: ~$1,199 USD (self-study exam voucher cheaper)
• Delivery: ECC exam portal or Pearson VUE

CEH Domains

1. Introduction to Ethical Hacking
2. Footprinting and Reconnaissance
3. Scanning Networks
4. Enumeration
5. Vulnerability Analysis
6. System Hacking
7. Malware Threats
8. Sniffing
9. Social Engineering
10. Denial of Service
11. Session Hijacking
12. Evading IDS, Firewalls, and Honeypots
13. Hacking Web Servers & Web Apps
14. SQL Injection
15. Hacking Wireless Networks
16. Hacking Mobile Platforms
17. IoT and OT Hacking
18. Cloud Computing Security
19. Cryptography

Practical Labs on the Cheap

You don't need the official EC-Council lab ($3,000+). Build your own:

# VirtualBox + Kali Linux + Metasploitable2
# Free, runs locally, covers most CEH labs

# Install VirtualBox
sudo apt install virtualbox

# Download Kali ISO from kali.org
# Download Metasploitable2 from SourceForge

Supplement with:

• TryHackMe — CEH-mapped learning paths
• HackTheBox Academy — free modules
• OWASP WebGoat — web app security practice

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Key Concepts to Master

Enumeration Tools

# Nmap — the Swiss Army knife
nmap -sV -sC -p- target_ip       # Full scan
nmap -sU target_ip                 # UDP scan
nmap --script vuln target_ip       # Vulnerability scripts

# Gobuster — directory enumeration
gobuster dir -u http://target -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirbuster/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt

# Enum4linux — SMB enumeration
enum4linux -a target_ip

The Hacking Methodology (for CEH)

1. Reconnaissance — passive (OSINT) and active
2. Scanning — network, ports, vulnerabilities
3. Enumeration — services, users, shares
4. Gaining Access — exploit vulnerabilities
5. Maintaining Access — backdoors, rootkits
6. Covering Tracks — log clearing

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Practice Resources

Platform	Free?	Best For
TryHackMe	Yes (free tier)	Beginners, guided paths
HackTheBox	Yes (free machines)	Intermediate+
PentesterLab	Yes (some)	Web security focus
DVWA	Yes	SQL injection, XSS practice
PortSwigger Web Academy	Yes	Burp Suite + web attacks

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Exam Tips

1. Read questions twice — CEH loves trick wording
2. Eliminate obviously wrong answers first
3. "Best" not "only" — choose the most appropriate option
4. Know your tools: Nmap, Metasploit, Wireshark, Aircrack-ng
5. Cryptography matters — understand RSA, AES, SHA, MD5 differences

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Questions? Reach out on LinkedIn or open an issue on GitHub. Good luck!